


The Universe's Personal Vendetta Against Bucky

by youngavengerfeels



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Get together fic, M/M, Steve is prepared to fight you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 03:05:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9415307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youngavengerfeels/pseuds/youngavengerfeels
Summary: Bucky is pretty sure the universe hates him. He's a good person, he doesn't deserve to deal with this shit or any of the assholes the universe sends his way.





	

It had been a really long day. It started with a pop quiz in his 8am math class and had only gotten better when hsi printer decided to die right as he was printing a twenty page paper he had just barely finished in time. Work was work which was its own kind of awful. Now it was close to midnight and Bucky was just getting back to his dorm. He was tempted to just forgo food and a shower and jump straight into bed, but the alien noises his stomach were making sent him to the kitchen instead. 

Everyone had their own cabinet to keep their food in. Bucky knew better than to keep food in it though because leaving food in a communal kitchen was just asking for it to be stolen. He normally kept his food in hair room until he needed to cook it. He and his roommate had sprung for a mini fridge so they were even able to keep some cold stuff in their room. It was the one time he and his roommate had agreed on something so far. Being able to have ice cream on hand for those night where he needed that little bit of comfort was totally worth it. 

He had been so busy with work and school though that he hadn't been able to make it to a grocery store in forever. Luckily about a month ago he had been all set to make himself some pasta only to have Thor invite him to share the obnoxious amount he had made. Never one to pass up free food, Bucky had stashed his pasta stuff in his cabinet. He had totally forgot it was there but now his stomach was going to thank him for it. 

For once the kitchen was empty which was a miracle itself. Normally the kitchen was crammed  with so many starving college students it may as well been a Starbucks. So the fact that not only was Bucky going to get a real meal, he didn't even have to awkwardly shuffle around anyone else while he prepared it. This night was starting to look to up. 

Until he opened the cabinet and found it empty. Bucky should has assumed this would happen, but deep down he was an optimist. But here he was being let down by his fellow humans once again. He whirled around the kitchen trying to find something to point him toward the culprit. The kitchen was unusual clean. College students couldn't be trusted to take care of their own rooms let alone a communal kitchen, so the fact like it looked like someone took a toothbrush to is was suspicious. It also erased any evidence the pasta theft might have left behind. 

Frustrated Bucky pulled out a piece of scrap paper from his backpack and a pen and wrote a hasty note, “ _ to the asshole who stole my pasta; I know we're all starving college students but thanks a lot for stealing the last of my food, it isn't like I needed to eat anyway. I hope your mother is proud she raised a theft.” _ Bucky pinned the note to the refrigator with the silly Frozen magnet someone had left. Leaving a note was petty and childish since Bucky Didn't even know if the theft would see it, but it made him feel better to take his aggression out somehow. 

At this point there wasn't anything Bucky could do but sadly make his way to his room despite his stomachs protest. He certainly wasn't going to be that asshole who went through other peoole’s cabnietsblookinb for food to steal. Bucky’s mama raised him right. At least Jimmy John's’ would always be there for him. 

There was no way Bucky was going to willingly submit himself to spending time with his roommate, Brock, so Bucky ordered his sandwich on his phone and settled down on one of the couches in the student lounge. The lounge was practically deserted which was a nice change from the normal scene, of students being obnoxiously loud and rowdy. It was just him, a group of girls who were way too into a game of Uno, and a surprisingly small dude curled up into another couch with a sketch book. If anyone needed to eat a sandwich it was that guy. Bucky was pretty sure his thighs were bigger than that guy. 

Bucky was not above creeping on the guy, because he was kind of hot, you know if you liked the hipster twink look, which Bucky did. The guy was so engrossed in his stretching that he didn’t even seem to notice Bucky staring which was well enough, because that would lead to an awkward conversation Bucky did not want to have. So Bucky stared with no shame while he waited for his food to arrive and may have cast an extra glance back at the dude when he was heading back to his room after his order arrived. He felt like it would be wrong not to appreciate someone that aesthetically pleasing. 

When Bucky had first started college his Facebook had been inundated with posts from his peers talking about how awesome it was to be around other adults who didn't start unnecessary drama. Truth be told it took very little start drama in the dorm. Bucky was currently in a blood feud with a guy who had suddenly decided to be productive and wake up early totally fucking up Bucky’s routine by using the only shower with warm water when Bucky normally got ready.  

So it wasn't unexpected when his note to the pasta theft started what would come to be known as the kitchen wars in the dorm. Before an RA could take his note down someone had snapped a picture and put it on the Facebook group page for the dorm. That had sparked a lot of accusations of who left the note and who was the thief. Bucky certainly wasn't going to own up to having left the note so the dorm was left year itself apart. Bucky hoped if nothing else people stopped stealing each other’s food. 

  
  


Bucky tried to be responsible and do his laundry once a week so he always had clean clothes to wear. The dorm only had one laundry room in the basement right across the hall from the communal kitchen. It was inconvenient to haul all his clothes down the stairs since the building definitely was not ADA compliant and didn't have an elevator. 

The main reason he didn't do his laundry though, was that the laundry room was really creepy. It was tucked into the back corner of the basement with way too low lighting and the machines always sounded like they would rather be cutting up people than washing clothes. During the day at least there were other people going in and out and the kitchen across the hall was busy so if one of the machines decided to show its true colors at least someone would hear Bucky scream. Not that he actually expected anyone in the dorm to save him, anytime anything weird happened college students tended to just nod and say, ‘alright, I guess this is happening now.” At night, though the laundry room was the scene of a horror movie. 

Which was why Bucky was definitely not taking the time to separate his whites and colors and just stuffing as much as would fit into a machine that was probably older than him. Bucky was pretty sure that whole things was a scam organized by the laundry detergent industry to get people to use more laundry detergent. He was beating the system, not lazy. 

It was after midnight and Bucky really should have planned better, but if he had his life together enough to not wait until he was down to one pair of underwear he would probably wouldn't be a barely functioning college student. If anyone asked his excuse was being a full time student working two part time jobs. At least this way he didn’t have to compete to get a washer and dryer. Trying to do laundry during the afternoon or evening was a nightmare that Bucky never wanted to repeat. 

At least while he waited for his clothes to get done he could get some studying done. He had brought his notes and laptop down so he could hang out in the little student lounge attached to the kitchen. In Bucky’s defense it was late and his history textbook was dry as fuck, so it wasn’t his fault he fell asleep. Shit happens. The only reason he even woke up was because Natasha texted him asking why he wasn’t there to walk to class with her. 

“Fuck!” Bucky grumbled quickly shoving everything into his bag. There was no way he could miss class so he was just going to have to wear his gross laundry day sweatpants and hoodie. At least the only person who would judge him was Natasha who always looked perfect no matter the time of day or how many shots she took. Everyone else on campus seemed to be on the same page of who cares what you wear, at least you made it to class. 

At least he could move his clothes to the dryer so they would be dry when he got back. He rushed over the to the laundry room, and to the machine where he had left his clothes only to find it empty. Did someone one seriously steal his wet clothes? He managed to find them on them in a soggy pile on the sad little card table. There was no way all the machine would have been taken during the time Bucky was asleep which meant someone deliberately pulled his clothes out of the washing machine and left them on the card table. 

It really wasn’t that big of a deal, that what happened when you abandoned your clothes in the washing machine but it meant someone had put deliberately put effort into messing with his clothes which just rubbed Bucky the wrong way. He didn’t have time dwell on it though so he just threw his clothes into the dryer and pushed some quarters into the machine and ran out of the laundry room, plowing into someone knocking them both over. 

“Shit! I’m so sorry,” Bucky said standing up. He looked down to see familiar blond hair. Great, he had run down the one attractive guy he had seen in the dorm. Today was going to be great. “I have to run, but I’m so sorry!” Bucky said rushing out of the laundry room praying he would only be a little late for class. If the bond said anything he missed, which was probably for the best because Bucky did not need to cussed out at the moment. 

 

He had to wake up half an hour earlier than he wanted to to do, but Bucky had finally found the shower time sweet spot. If that asshole hadn't poached Bucky’s normal time he wouldn't have had to, but Bucky liked to think he was flexible so he just adjusted around it. Not only could he man the shower that never ran out of hot water, no matter how long you stood under the water dissociating, but the bathroom was blissfully empty. Not once had someone walked in and tried to start a conversation with him while he was showering. Bucky wasn’t an unfriendly guy, he liked meeting new people but when he was showering it was just him, the water, and his crippling depression; there wasn't room for strangers to ask him why the fuck he was up so early. 

So even though he ended up with an extra half an hour where he wished he could have been sleeping, Bucky was satisfied with his arrangement. He happily grabbed his shower caddy and towel and made his way to the hall bathroom. Personally, Bucky was creeped out by how dead the dorm felt early in the morning. During the day it was impossible to be alone in the dorm with people going to and from work and school. At night everything was alive with people hanging out, just living in the space. But in the morning ti was like the dorm was empty. There was no signs of life. It was creepy.  So Bucky may put a little extra pep in his step on the way to the bathroom not wanting to spend too much time in the halls. 

Bucky was just about to start stripping when he realized he had forgotten the really nice, expensive shampoo he bought. Hair care products were the one thing he treated himself to so he was not about to deny himself silky luxurious hair. He ran out of the bathroom to his room, careful not to slam the door open. Bucky may not like his roommate, but that wasn't a reason to be an asshole.

Bucky came back to find the sound of a shower running. That wouldn't be a problem in itself, but it was the shower Bucky had claimed. All of his stuff was pushed over in front of the shower across from the one currently running. What the actual fuck. Who even does that? At most Bucky was gone for three minutes. Bucky expected this kind of passive aggressive behavior from Brock, but seeing as his roommate was dead to the world in his bed, that meant there was another asshole out there trying to ruin his life. 

But Bucky was a good person and just used the other shower even though after the first five minutes the shower turned so cold he thought he would actually freeze. He glared at the little sticker in the stall that proclaimed he should “strive for five,” like it was the reason his nice warm shower had been stolen out from under him. 

He heard the other shower shut off and was tempted to try and get a peek of the guy who stole his shower but it wasn’t like that would do him any good so he just continued lathering his hair. The universe may hate him, but he didn’t need to be petty. Bucky hated the cold so his shower was shorter than he would have liked but at least he didn’t freeze. 

He was the leaving the bathroom the same time the door of the rooming facing it open revealing a slight figure that was starting to become very familiar to Bucky. The blond looked absolutely wrecked. His right eye was almost swollen shut and his arms were covered in bruises. Bucky involuntarily winced in sympathy pain. Bucky was tempted to ask if the guy was alright, but the blond just scurried down the hallway without even looking at Bucky. 

Someday Bucky was going to actually talk to the blond. Bucky had moves he was prepared to use them, but for now he was just going to get ready for class. 

 

The library was a weird place to be. It was like all social norms ceased to exist within the walls of the library. In the library it didn't matter if you were an engineering major, an education major, or undecided, everyone was suffering. Bucky had seen more than one person crying as they typed on their laptops or looked over notes. He had seen the dead eyed look of students who knew the assignment they were submitting was bullshit but were too tired to care. 

Bucky liked to claim he spent so much time in the library because he was a studious student. He put on the “better than you vibe” because it seemed like a better answer than he hated being in his dorm room because of his asshole roommate. Bucky made a point not to put up with other people’s bullshit, he had been in his fair share of fights but something about Brock stopped him. No matter what irritating thing Brock did Bucky didn't call him out on it, Instead he just fled to the library. 

Bucky had a spot in the library. It was up on the third floor, that most people didn't even know existed. He had found one of those single person couches with a moveable desk, which was weird because it was the only one like it in the library. It was in a back corner and should have been a prime studying spot, but somehow whenever Bucky needed to escape his room, he was able to find the couch empty. It had become a little sanctuary of his. Brock and his goons wouldn't be caught dead in the library and people tended to ignore each other so Bucky could safely pretend to be invisible.

The benefit of using the library as his hiding spot was that he actually did end up doing a lot of studying. Not once in high school did Bucky even feign studying for a test, and even now he could get by without studying, but just being in the library guilted him into studying better than his teachers ever had. His GPA thanked him for that. 

So it really wasn’t unusual for him to be spending his Friday night in his corner, minding his own business. He had his notes out to give the appearance that he was studying, but he had been sucked into the black hole that was cat videos. Natasha always sent him videos and every time he clicked the link he sware he was just going to watch one and then start studying, but every time he ended up spending hours cackling at his phone. 

He probably would have spent about hour of so trapped in cat video limbo if his stomach had protested. Bucky’s second favorite part of the library was the little cafe that was always open. It was always convenient to be able to pop down to the first floor and grab a coffee at 2 am when procrastinating on an essay. 

The library had signs everywhere warning people not to leave their stuff unattended but Bucky never even saw people on the third floor let alone in his little corner, and he was only going to grab a sandwich and come back so Bucky didn’t worry about leaving his notes all over the couch. 

Not ten minutes later he was rounding the corner, sandwich in hand only to find someone else sitting in his spot. Bucky stopped dead in confusion. His stuff was all piled neatly on the floor next to the couch and a guy was lounging on the couch typing on a laptop. It took Bucky a moment but he realized it was the blond guy he had been creeping on for the last couple weeks. 

The man was way less hot sitting in Bucky’s spot, although the guy was so skinny they could probably cuddle real nice in the seat. If Bucky was a better person he would just grab his stuff and walk away, but he wasn't, deep down Bucky was petty as fuck. 

“What the fuck dude,” Bucky growled 

“Shit,” the man said in a guilty voice, because he damn well knew what Bucky was talking about without Bucky even having to say it. He looked up with wide eyes,  showing off how startling blue they were. Bucky wouldn’t mind getting lost in those eyes but at the moment reclaiming his spot took precedent. “I'm so sorry, I thought it was open,” the man apologized without actually moving. 

“You literally had to move all my stuff,” Bucky countered because come on this guy was clearly an asshole, he didn't get to play the innocent card. 

“You weren't here! Shit! I thought someone just forgot it! That happens all the time! I was gonna take it all to the front desk when I left,” The man said defensively. 

“I was only gone for like five minutes! Come on dude!” 

“You left! You don't need to get so mad, you jerk!” The man retorted. 

“And you're a goddamn punk!” Bucky growled. 

“Both of you are assholes, who need to shut the fuck up. We’re in the library!” a pissed off looking girl said out of nowhere making Bucky realize he had been practically yelling. The girl turned and walked away before either of them could apologize though, so Bucky was left giving the guy a sheepish look who returned it with his own apologetic look. They stared at each other for another minute and then the man started to honest to god giggle. It was infectious because soon Bucky started to giggle too. 

“No, come on if we don’t stop she’s going to come back and kick both our asses,”

“You’re damn right I will,’ an annoyed voice rose from somewhere in the bookstacks. It only caused them to giggle more. 

“Steve,” The man said extending his hand to Bucky who took it. 

“Bucky,” he said with a girn. 

“Do you wanna maybe go get a drink or something?” Steve said looking shy. 

“Yeah, Let’s get out of here,’ Bucky said. 

“Fucking finally,” the girl muttered making them break out into giggles again. 

 

Bucky hated the bar scene. He appreciated the opportunity to get drunk off his ass, but he did not appreciate the crowd that normally came with the bar. The fact that he was here with Steve was made it ok. They talked over drinks and after the awkward small talk phase was over it was like they had known each other their whole lives. Bucky couldn’t stop smiling he was so enthralled by everything Steve said. The guy was ridiculously intelligent and passionate. It showed when he talked about issues he cared about. Bucky could sit there and listen to Steve for hours and be happy.

At some point though his bladder protested though and he had to excuse himself to the bathroom. Bucky was more than eager to make his way back to Steve but found his path blocked.

“Someone like you shouldn’t be out alone on a Friday,” the man said leaning into Bucky’s space.

“Well I’m not, so if you’ll excuse me,” Bucky said moving to go around the dude, only to be blocked again. 

“I’m sure I’d be better company than whoever you are here with,” the guys said sounding like a bad villain.

“I’d rather choke,” Bucky said sidestepping the guy. The guy moved to grab but Steve appears out of nowhere knocking the guy’s hand away from Bucky. 

“He’s clearly not into you, so just move along pal,” Steve said like he wasn’t half the guy’s size. Bucky found a new thing to admire about Steve. 

“Just stay out of this,” the guy said rounding on Steve now.

“Well if you stopped being a fucking creep maybe I could,” Steve taunted. 

Before Bucky could pull Steve away the guy had already punched him sending Steve sprawling. WIthout thinking Bucky punched the guy, grabbed Steve and made a break for it before the guy could retaliate.He pulled Steve down the street until he was sure no one was coming after them. He didn’t really need to get charged with assault at the moment, but thankfully it looked like no one was pursuing them.  

“You know, next time you rescue someone maybe don’t taunt the creep into punching you,” Bucky reprimanded. He pulled steve under a street light so he could check out his face. Steve was going to have an ugly bruise and a split lip, but he would be fine. He breathed out a sigh of relief. 

“I’ll keep that in mind for next time,” Steve said rolling his eyes like he was used to hearing it. Even from the limited time he hand known Steve, Bucky was sure getting into fights was exactly the kind of thing Steve did on a regular basis. Bucky wasn’t sure what he had gotten into with this guy, but he guessed he was already in for the ride. 

“You know, you always seem to pop up when the universe decides to send an asshole my way,” Bucky said with a laugh. Looking back he realized Steve always seemed to show up around the time he had to deal with some bullshit asshole. 

“Yeah? Do I need to kick the universe’s ass next?” Steve said with a grin and then winiced. 

“Nah, but if I ever find out who stole my pasta from the kitchen I might be tempted to take you up on that,” Bucky said. Steve went still. 

“Wait, were you the guy who left that stupid note in the kitchen?” Steve said looking a little nervous. 

“Yeah. I’m still fucking bitter about it. WHo the fuck steals the last of someone’s food” Bucky said passionately. 

“Um, me actually,” Steve said sheepishly. Bucky had to do a double take for a second before realizing that he had finally found his food thief. 

“You are the absolute worst Steve. I thought you were better than that but I guess I was wrong,” Bucky said dramatically. 

“I’m sorry! I normally would never take someone else’s food but I hadn’t eaten in 36 hours and I couldn’t afford to order anything,” Steve said sheepishly, making Bucky feel a little guilt about how annoyed he had been. 

“It’s alright at least you were the obnoxious person who moved all my clothes out of the washing machine when literally all the other machines were open. I was even asleep in the next room! They could have just woken me up if they were that annoyed by it!” Bucky said with a wave. 

“Ummmm,” Steve said rubbing a hand on the back of his next. 

“No fucking way, that was you too?” Bucky said laughing. This was starting to get ridiculous. 

“In my defense I was going to put them in the dryer, but I didn’t have enough quarters so I ran back to my room and by the time I got back you had already moved them and knocked me over,” Steve said defensively.

“Ok, just because apparently you are all the assholes I’ve been having to deal with recently I have to ask, did you ever steal the good shower from someone, even though all of their stuff was already in the shower?” Bucky asked.

“That was you!” Steve said face completely red. It kind of looked like he was hoping to spontaneously combust. Bucky thought it was adorable. It made Bucky wonder if the universe hadn’t been trying to ruin his life, but just point him in Steve’s direction. Who was he to mess up the universe’s plan? It looked like he was stuck with the guy. 

“You’re a punk,” Bucky said pulling Steve under his arm. 

“Jerk,” Steve said not pulling away. Yeah, this was gonna be fun. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is no where near my best work, but I think its cute and I made a New Year's resolution to post at fic once a week, so here we are. 
> 
> I love kudos and comments
> 
> Come talk to me or give me a prompt for what you want to see next on tumblr at youngavengersfeels


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